However, when not in bloom, any type of onion could be mistaken for the extremely poisonous death camas(Zigadenus nuttallii), especially if you’re not an expert. Since you’ll be harvesting the blossoms, this shouldn’t be a problem here, but I think it’s worth knowing!

Harvesting + Cleaning Chive Blossoms

I think it’s easiest to snip them several inches below the flower so that you can use the green chive as a handle while cleaning.

Next, dip the chive blossoms in (room temperature or cold) water to clean them. The water will help get rid of any bugs hiding in the flowers.

Avoid placing the flowers under running water, because you could damage the blossoms.

Lay them on a towel to dry.

Chive Blossoms

What Type of Vinegar Should I Use?

I recommend using either white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar.

White wine vinegar should be easy to find at any grocery store. Champagne vinegar is a little harder to find (and pricier), but is lovely if you can find it!

I don’t recommend using strongly-flavored vinegars (like apple cider, sherry, or red wine vinegar) because those vinegars will likely overpower the flavor of the blossoms.

That said, if you have a lot of extra chive blossoms on hand and want to try making this with a strongly-flavored vinegar, go for it, and then let me know how it turned out!

If you want to use rice vinegar or homemade vinegar, you should infuse the chive blossoms in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature. Expect your refrigerator infusion to take longer than a room temperature infusion.

Rice vinegar has an acidity level below 5%, so if you’re infusing it with “wet” ingredients like flowers (as opposed to dehydrated or fully dry flowers), keep it cool to avoid bacteria growth.

How to Make Chive Blossom Vinegar

Alternatively, if you want your vinegar to have a stronger onion flavor, you could leave some of the chives attached.

Place the flowers in a clean glass jar. The jar doesn’t have to be sanitized, but at minimum, wash it with hot, soapy water.

Put the Blossoms in a Glass Jar

Next, muddle the flowers to release some of their flavor.

I used a cocktail muddler, but you can also use the back of a wooden spoon or a pestel.

Muddle the Blossoms

Infusing with Room-Temperature vs Warm Vinegar

At this point, you have two options.

Option one: Warm the vinegar up before pouring it onto the flowers.

Using warm water will speed up the infusion process, meaning you could use your vinegar in as few as three days.

Option two: You can choose to simply pour room-temperature vinegar into the jar with the flowers. This option will take longer to infuse (about 3-5 weeks), but will yield a slightly milder, more delicate finished product.

There is not a right or wrong option.

If you’re in a hurry, use warm vinegar. If you’re not, use room-temperature vinegar. Or try both to see which you prefer.

Add Vinegar to the Jar

Pour the (room-temperature or warm) vinegar over the blossoms.

Next, top them with a few pieces of lemon peel. The peel will help hold down the blossoms, and will give the vinegar a little citrus flavor.

Next, seal the jar.

Keep in mind that the acidic vinegar will cause metal lids to corrode, so if you’re using a metal lid, place a piece of wax or parchment paper between the vinegar and the lid.

And then, it’s time to wait. Check on the vinegar daily to ensure that the blossoms are below the liquid, and let it infuse until you like the flavor.

When it’s ready, strain out the blossoms and lemon peel, and store the vinegar in the fridge.

Ingredients

Instructions

Clean the flowers by dipping the chive blossoms into a bowl of water, and set aside to dry.

Optional: Heat the vinegar until it's warm. Do not bring it to a boil.

Tip: Heating the vinegar will help the blossoms infuse more quickly, but will produce a slightly less delicate flavor than room temperature vinegar.

Use kitchen shears to remove any green chives from the flowers. Add the flowers to a clean glass jar, and muddle them with a cocktail muddler or the back of a wooden spoon.

Pour the vinegar over the flowers into the jar until the jar is almost full. (The amount of vinegar listed is approximate, you may need slightly more or less.)

Place the lemon peel on top of the flowers to help keep them submerged.

Seal the jar, and place it in a cool place out of direct sunlight. Check on the vinegar daily to make sure the blossoms are still submerged.

Allow the blossoms to infuse for anywhere from 3 days (if you used warm vinegar), or 3-5 weeks (for room temperature vinegar), until you like the flavor. Note that even warm vinegar infusions can be infused for 3-5 weeks. It all depends on your flavor preferences.

Finally, strain out and discard (or compost) the blossoms and lemon peel. Store the vinegar in a sealed jar in the fridge, and use within 6-8 months.

Notes

Doubling or Tripling the Recipe: Use the measurements as a guide, not a rule. In general, pack the chive blossoms into a jar and fill the jar with vinegar. If you use more blossoms your infusion will be stronger, and fewer blossoms will give you a milder infusion.Do not double or triple the lemon peel. While it will add some flavor, its main job is to hold the flowers under the liquid.

Vinegar Substitutions: I recommend using white wine or champagne vinegar. If all you have on hand is apple cider vinegar, it will work, but the flavor of the chive blossoms will be less distinctive (because ACV has a strong flavor). If you use rice vinegar, you should infuse the vinegar in the fridge and expect the infusion to take slightly longer. Rice vinegar’s lower acidity level makes it unsafe to infuse at room temperature.Avoid using white distilled vinegar, because it’s too astringent-tasting.